And not just a tennis ball from 15 miles away, but a tennis ball 15 miles away and moving at three times the speed of sound. That's the sort of sensitivity the radar operators on the UK's HMS Iron Duke will have the chance to work with when it returns to service next year.

The ARTISAN medium range 3D surveillance radar, developed by BAE Systems for use on the Navy's Type 23 frigates, apparently offers five times the efficiency of current technology, also allowing ships to cut their way through modern mobile and general technical interference.

It can track up to 800 moving things simultaneously, with a range of 200m to 200km. It'll soon appear on the controversial new Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers, plus the futuristic Type 26 frigates we'll see around a decade from now ought to come with it pre-installed.